[Trombone-l] extreeme high pitched vintage German trombone

[Bill Dinwiddie]

Sorry Dan,

I don't remember about the tuning slide either. This was over 30 years ago.

Bill


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "dan noyes" <dahmnoyes at tampabay.rr.com>
To: "'Bill Dinwiddie'" <billdin at comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 6:16 PM
Subject: RE: [Trombone-l] extreeme high pitched vintage German trombone


> Bill,
> Do you remember if those horns had a tuning slide?  My Alexander came with 
> a
> strange, very shallow cupped mouthpiece that made it sound awful.  But my
> Wick 6BS worked fine, except for the pitch thing.  The pitch of the Wick
> however matched the pitch of the mouthpiece that came with the horn.  I
> don't really think the mouthpiece is an issue with the pitch problem of 
> this
> horn.  I don't think that this horn has been modified either, but can't be
> sure.
> Dan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu
> [mailto:trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu] On Behalf Of Bill
> Dinwiddie
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 6:16 PM
> To: Steve Gamble
> Cc: List Trombone
> Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] extreeme high pitched vintage German trombone
>
> Steve,
>
> To be honest, this happened so long ago, that I cannot remember what
> mouthpiece I used. However, there were plenty of Alexander employees
> standing around while this was going on and I would be surprised if one of
> them hadn't suggested that I use their mouthpiece. I would certainly have
> done that if it would have made the horn more playable. I stated my 
> opinion
> very directly and I remember that many of the Germans around spoke very 
> good
>
> English, so it was not a language problem. You are certainly correct that
> the mouthpiece could have made a big difference.
>
> Bill Dinwiddie
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Steve Gamble" <sgamble at tucsonsymphony.org>
> To: "Bill Dinwiddie" <billdin at comcast.net>; "List Trombone"
> <TROMBONE-L at server5.samford.edu>
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 1:43 PM
> Subject: RE: [Trombone-l] extreeme high pitched vintage German trombone
>
>
> Hi Bill,
>
> I'm curious.  Did you use your own (American) mouthpiece when you were
> trying the German horns?  I've had the same experience regarding the
> weirdness of some German makes.  It turned out that I needed to use the
> mouthpiece that came with the horn to make is work well.  Of course, the
> mouthpieces were nothing like what I usually played, but that's another
> story.
>
> Steve Gamble, Librarian
> Tucson Symphony Orchestra
> 2175 N. 6th Ave.
> Tucson, AZ  85705
> 520-792-9155 x118 office
> 520-792-9314 fax
> 520-991-7056 cell
> sgamble at tucsonsymphony.org
> www.tucsonsymphony.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu
> [mailto:trombone-l-bounces at maillists.samford.edu] On Behalf Of Bill
> Dinwiddie
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 11:32 AM
> To: List Trombone
> Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] extreeme high pitched vintage German trombone
>
> (Sorry, I don't know who to address this to because your posting does
> not
> contain your name.)
>
> I went to Germany in the early '70s and had the opportunity to play
> several
> Alexander trombones at the factory in Mainz. I was given to understand
> that
> this company made really first class brass instruments. I was astounded
> to
> find that every trombone I played that day was one of the worst
> instruments
> I have ever played. The overtone series on every horn was so out of
> whack
> that I began to get aggravated. These are the demo horns that the
> Alexander
> company wants these American visitors to play so that they will be
> better
> able to appreciate fine German craftsmanship? They were all crap! Of
> course,
> they looked very pretty. I expressed my opinion to the officials of the
> company and the look of shock on their faces was evident. They must have
>
> thought I was insane. Apparently, they never had a German professional
> trombonist test their instruments, or they would have never let these
> horns
> be played by anyone. I'm sorry to hear that you purchased the instrument
> in
> question. It doesn't surprise me to hear that the entire horn plays a
> half
> step too high. The horns I played back then were totally unusable. I
> would
> never consider buying an Alexander instrument as a result of that
> experience.
>
> The horn may sound nice, but I believe that you should go out and buy
> some
> lamp cord and a nice energy efficient light bulb. Sorry. Maybe you can
> sell
> it on E-Bay.
>
> Bill Dinwiddie
> billdin at comcast.net
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <dahmnoyes at tampabay.rr.com>
> To: <trombone-l at server5.samford.edu>
> Sent: Monday, September 10, 2007 10:56 AM
> Subject: [Trombone-l] extreeme high pitched vintage German trombone
>
>
>>I recently purchased a G. Alexander (Mainz) trombone made supposedly in
> the
>>70's.  There is no tuning slide in either the bell section nor on the
> main
>>slide.  Although this horn has one of the prettiest sounds that I've
> every
>>experienced, it is extremely high pitched--so much so that the
> positions
>>need to be played down one full position to get them in tune.  This
> leaves
>>you with no 7th position, those notes almost being able to be played
> again
>>in 1st.  My question to the list community is this: how can I salvage
> this
>>horn?  I'm thinking of having a tuning slide built into the bell
> section,
>>like most every other trombone has--but I'm afraid of messing with the
>>taper that's helping to produce this sweet sound.  I'd really like to
> have
>>someone customize a slide for this horn with a built in tuning
> slide...but
>>I'm ignorant as to who could do such a thing for a decent price.  Any
>>thoughts?
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